Dalrymple Meets with Asst. Sec. of Army Jo-Ellen Darcy

Press Release

Gov. Jack Dalrymple today met with Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant secretary of the Army, during Western Governors' Association meetings in Colorado Springs, Colo. Dalrymple pressed Darcy, who oversees the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, on state's rights to water and the Clean Water Act.

"The expansion of federal jurisdiction to claim storage rights to all water within a reservoir boundary is trampling state authority over state waters and is contrary to longstanding federal recognition of state water rights," Dalrymple said. "The Corps seems to be taking the position that water users along more than 260 miles of river in North Dakota are now unauthorized. That is not right, and we will continue to remind the Corps that there are limits to its jurisdiction and authority."

The Missouri River in North Dakota is a unique basin with significant natural flows available and legislation related to the Missouri River including reclamation laws must be followed. The Corps' authority is limited and it does not extend to the allocation of the river's resources.

"The Corps should reverse its newly minted belief that it is storing all water that flows into the reservoirs from the Missouri River," Dalrymple said. "There should be no restriction to the state's water rights from natural flows. It is the state's right to access flows without charge and reservoir storage rights are part of state water rights protected by both the federal constitution and by legislation."

Dalrymple formally requested clarification of the Corps' source of legal authority to claim 100 percent of the river flows within a reservoir boundary as stored water that requires contracts for access. The state does not believe this legal authority exists. The governor also repeated his prior request that the Secretary's staff meet with North Dakota officials on the U.S. Army Corps Reallocation Study, Surplus (Stored) Water Reports, and Rule-making process. Finally, he suggested that prior to the public release of the Reallocation Study or the Rulemaking for Surplus Water, the Corps allow the Cooperating Agency Team to review the draft report.

The Western Governors' Association represents the governors of 19 Western states and three U.S.-flag islands. The association is an instrument of the governors for bipartisan policy development, information exchange and collective action on issues of critical importance to the Western United States. WGA is meeting this week, June 9-11, in Colorado Springs.

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